After Months Of Delay, The Census Data For New Voting Maps Is Coming Out Aug. 12
After months of delays, the 2020 census results used to redraw voting districts around the country will finally be released on Aug. 12, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. In a tweet, the federal government’s largest statistical agency confirmed that the detailed demographic data will be posted on its website four days sooner than Aug. 16, the previously […]
Federal 3-Judge Panel To Decide Whether State Redistricting Plan Is Constitutional
SPRINGFIELD – Lawyers for plaintiffs and the state told a panel of federal judges Wednesday the issues involved in two lawsuits challenging the state’s legislative redistricting plan are “straightforward” and ought to be resolved in short order. But the three-judge panel hearing the case appeared uncertain about how much time they actually have, given the […]
News Special: Redistricting In Illinois
SPRINGFIELD – It happens once a decade. Political boundaries are redrawn. The impact is huge. It will dictate who represents you in congress, the Illinois legislature and many other offices. It will also help determine what government decisions are made. Still, many voters are unclear about the process and its importance. The new maps are […]
State Supreme Court Pauses Transition To New Appellate Districts
SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Supreme Court will delay its transition to implement new appellate court boundaries that were created by a recently approved judicial district map until further notice. “Appeals and other matters shall continue to be filed in the judicial districts as they existed on June 3, 2021, until further order of the Court,” […]
Democrats Override Veto, Approve New County Board District Map
URBANA – The Champaign County Board voted along party lines Friday evening to override the county executive’s veto of a new district map drawn by Democrats. On a 14-7 vote (with Republican Jodi Wolken absent), the county board overrode County Executive Darlene Kloeppel’s veto of a map Democrats have labeled the Equity Map. Republicans had […]
Champaign County Executive Vetoes Democrats’ County Board District Map
2nd UPDATE: May 21 2021 5:45 p.m. – Champaign County Executive Darlene Kloeppel has vetoed a new district map that the county board approved Thursday night, and is asking the county board to reconsider the question at its June 24 meeting. In her veto message released Friday, Kloeppel said Democrats had not taken the time […]
Durbin Among Officials Touting Infrastructure Improvements At Willard
SAVOY — Officials at the University of Illinois’ Willard Airport in Savoy held a ceremony Friday to mark the update of an aging runway. The federal government is contributing more than $11 million to the $12.4 million project. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois says the project is important because of the reach of Willard […]
Southern Illinois Could Be Target For Congressional District Loss
A political scientist predicts southern Illinois will lose a congressional district when the Democrat-controlled Illinois legislature redraws the political maps this year. The two southernmost districts are held by Republicans: Mike Bost of Murphysboro and Mary Miller of Oakland. John Shaw, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, said Democrats […]
GOP Accuses Pritzker Of Breaking Campaign Promise On ‘Fair Maps’
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Republicans are blasting Gov. JB Pritzker for walking back a pledge he made while running for governor in 2018, when he said he’d veto any legislative maps drawn by lawmakers, political party leaders or their staff. Democrats — who hold veto-proof supermajorities in the General Assembly — are in the thick of […]
Redistricting Hearings Focus On Champaign-Urbana
URBANA – An Illinois House committee is gathering input from different parts of the state, as its members prepare to redraw legislative and congressional districts. On Thursday, the Redistricting Committee heard via Zoom from the Champaign-Urbana area — one of the few parts of Illinois seeing population growth. Gloria Yen with the University YMCA’s New […]
Davis Says White House Infrastructure Plan Needs GOP Input
URBANA – Illinois Congressman Rodney Davis is appealing to bipartisanship, as he joins fellow Republicans in opposing the White House infrastructure plan. Davis made his comments Monday at Willard Airport, south of Champaign, where he toured runway and taxiway improvements. “Well this is awesome,” said Davis, as he was shown improvements paid for by federal […]
Senate To Begin Redistricting Process
SPRINGFIELD – An Illinois Senate committee will hold its first hearing Wednesday to begin the process of redrawing congressional and state legislative districts in line with the 2020 census, despite the fact that detailed census data will likely be unavailable until September. Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, said in an interview that despite the […]
Census Bureau Won’t Have Numbers Until After State Deadlines
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers are required to draw new legislative and congressional district maps this year, but that process may be thrown into chaos because of delays in producing the census numbers needed to draw equal districts. The U.S. Census Bureau announced Friday that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other delays, it will not be able […]
News Around Illinois – April 25/26, 2020
COVID-19 Tests Hit Milestone, Pritzker Warns Long Way To Go SPRINGFIELD — Illinois public health officials completed more than 16,000 tests for COVID-19 in 24 hours, surpassing for the first time the 10,000-per-day mark that the governor on Friday called a milestone on the way to tracking the deadly virus and ending tight restrictions on […]